Shine wears off Bright Futures scholarships

Students see less money as program hit by higher demand, fewer dollars

UNF sophomore Stephanie Joost works as an office assistant at the Alumni Hall at University of North Florida to help supplement her college tuition. She receives help with Florida's Bright Futures scholarship but it pays less toward tuition each year.

Dina Walters knew her mom’s salary as an AT&T operator couldn’t pay for the psychology degree she wanted, so the Orange Park student prepared to compete for scholarships.

By middle school, she heard the magic words: Bright Futures.

“It seemed like anyone could afford to be at school,” said Walters, now a University of Florida senior. “It felt like college was attainable for anyone.”

What started as free-tuition scholarship decreased each year until even a part-time job couldn’t cover all her costs. She borrowed from her mother to pay what Bright Futures couldn’t, about half of the $10,000 it cost her to take spring, summer and fall classes.

“It just feels like it was too good to be true,” said Walters, who also is majoring in Spanish.

Hundreds of thousands of students like Walters have received Florida’s merit-based scholarship, Bright Futures, since the program started in 1997. The program started by offering 100 percent and 75 percent tuition scholarships and now gives students a certain amount for each credit hour.

The Florida Legislature will take up the issue of Bright Futures this session, deciding how much each student will receive and whether the program’s requirements need to be revamped. The changes will impact current high school seniors, who should apply to Bright Futures before their graduation this spring.

The scholarship was applauded when first introduced as a chance for Florida students to get a debt-free college education. It was also lampooned as a handout to middle- and upper-class families, paid for by lower-class lottery players.

The Bright Futures scholarship payment has dropped nearly every year since 2009 as greater demand and shrinking pot of money test the program’s economic viability. The program’s top scholarship today pays about half of a student’s tuition, depending on the cost of the college.

Eighteen years into the program, students receiving Bright Futures have grown up hearing about it. It was an incentive to learn multiplication tables, to enroll in a challenging International Baccalaureate program and to dedicate weekends to studying for the SATs.

The message was simple: Get good grades and graduate without debt, Walters said. Students and parents gravitated toward the program.

Now, those students said they’re finding ways to afford college without those promises as Bright Futures continues to shrink.

DECLINE OF BRIGHT FUTURES AWARDS

In Bright Futures’ first year, 42,000 students received the merit-based scholarship. By 2013, the number ballooned to 160,000 students.

Funding for the program through the state’s lottery kept up with demand until 2008. In 1997, $69 million went to Bright Futures. By 2008, it peaked at $426 million.

But too many qualified students wanted the scholarships and tuition kept rising at state schools, said Florida State University professor Shouping Hu, who studies higher education trends.

It was the height of the recession, and state spending on universities was dropping, he said. Colleges bumped up their tuition to compensate -- about 15 percent each year since 2007 -- but Bright Futures couldn’t keep up.

The lottery also took a small hit from the recession. Some players saved their money instead, and sales dropped.

Bright Futures had promoted itself with its two flagship scholarships: one that offered the state’s top students 100 percent paid tuition paid, and one that offered 75 percent of tuition paid for “B” students.

That model was thrown out, and in 2009 the state gave fixed scholarships: $126 per credit hour for the highest scholarship, and $95 for the second-ranking scholarship, Florida Department of Education data shows. Cuts chipped away at that amount until it reached $100 and $75, respectively, in 2012. There was a small increase of about $3 per credit hour for each this academic year.

LOANS, WORK AND DISTRACTIONS

For students like Walters, who received the formerly 100 percent tuition scholarship, Bright Futures pays just half of their tuition. That’s on top of other costs such as fees, rent and books.

Katherine Estrella, a Florida State University junior, said she’s taken out loans and worked part-time at Panda Express to make up the difference in her scholarship. She received a 75 percent tuition scholarship when she graduated from a Clay County high school, but she said now it covers about $500 of her $3,500 tuition bill.

“At this point, it isn’t worth much at all,” said Estrella, a mechanical engineering student. “I’m here to study. I’m not here to cook Chinese food. So it’s really hard balancing both, and it takes away from my study time, and I feel like my grades are suffering.”

Stephanie Joost had her heart set on attending the University of North Florida, and she thought her acceptance letter sealed the deal.

Her brother had Bright Futures, and it paved his way to an affordable education, she said.

When her turn came around, she left the student financial aid office crying.

“You just kind of feel like you got a little duped,” said the 19-year-old UNF sophomore. “That’s honestly what I thought: There’s no way this is going to happen.”

Joost found other scholarships and signed up for a federal work-study program, which found her a job in UNF’s alumni office, to make ends meet.

Aviela Weltman, a Jacksonville resident studying at the University of Florida, said her family coped with the slowly growing costs for years. It’s bearable since her family has the means to afford her tuition. Still, she said it’s frustrating.

“One of the reasons I stayed in state was because of how cheap my tuition was supposed to be,” she said. “It’s kind of a disappointment. You work hard all of your high school career and then they said, ‘Oh yeah. We said you could go here for free. ... And it’s just not what we said.’”

BRIGHT FUTURES’ FUTURE

Bright Future’s impact as a financial cornerstone will erode so long as colleges keep raising tuition, Hu said.

Florida’s universities have raised tuition by 15 percent each year since about 2007 to cope with rising costs and reduced state appropriations.

Gov. Rick Scott said in his State of the State that he aims to use this legislative session to reduce or eliminate universities’ ability to raise tuition.

Annual in-state tuition at the University of North Florida and University of Central Florida has increased by about $700 from five years ago, according to university data. It has increased about $1,700 at FSU and about $2,000 at UF during that time.

To keep the program stable, either more money has to flow in or something has to be cut. In recent years, scholarship requirements got tougher.

To get the top scholarship, students need an SAT of 1290 or an ACT score of 29. To get the second-level scholarship, students need an ACT score of 26 or an SAT score of 1170, a 100-point jump from five years ago.

Those jumps mean thousands of students did not earn Bright Futures scholarships in recent years. The changes hit minority students the hardest, according to University of South Florida analysts.

Two Florida bills, one in the House and one in the Senate, suggest lowering the top-level requirements to an 1100 SAT or a 24 ACT, and the second-level requirements to 1020 SAT and 22 ACT. If passed, it would take effect in July.

“At one point, the thinking was, ‘I applied to Bright Futures. I don’t have to apply to anything else,’” said Anissa Agne, financial aid director for the UNF. “Now that mentality is shifting.”

Food for thought: College is a different game these days. 20+ years ago, college-bound students were fewer. There were many more opportunities for young people and they didn't require a college education. Little by little Americans have been sold a bill of goods based on the idea that all young people need to be "college-ready" and attend/graduate from college. This is unreasonable and ridiculous. Our FREE, public secondary schools should be training students for work. We can blame our Florida legislature as well as big business. Additionally, many colleges today resemble luxury resorts. Nothing like I attended in the late 70s and early 80s. It's expensive to keep little Janie and Johnny in the manner in which they are accustomed. Finally, there is nothing wrong with working your way through college (and living at home when possible, too). I did it. My husband did it. My son did, too. And shame on UNF for requiring freshman to live on campus.

ANYTIME you make cost not an object for a certain good or service, the cost of that item will go up. Bright futures, florida prepaid, exponential rise in the cost of the college degree. If only 10% of people could afford to go to college when these programs began, then only 10% will be able to afford it once the cost catches up. Now what are you going to do? You are not going to get MORE people to play the lottery. You have gotten yourself into the Old corner called unintended consequences. Enjoy it Florida!! Congrats on making college "affordable for everyone".